Passenger Names

Passenger names populate realistic manifests when flights are dispatched. The system maintains a pool of names, each with a gender and selection probability, which are randomly sampled to create passenger lists for each flight. This adds immersion by producing believable manifests rather than generic placeholder data.

Backoffice path: backoffice/passenger-names

Available to roles: System Administrator, Administrator

Fields

Field	Description	Constraints
Name	Full passenger name as it appears on the manifest	Required
Gender	Passenger gender: M (male) or F (female)	Required
Weight Override	Custom passenger weight in kilograms; when set, this value overrides the statistical weight from the payload profile for this passenger	Nullable, 0 -- 300 kg
Probability	Selection weight that controls how likely this name is to appear on manifests. Higher values mean the name is selected more frequently	0.0 -- 1.0, default: 0.50
Active	Toggle to include or exclude this name from the selection pool	On / Off

How Selection Works

When the dispatch system generates a passenger manifest, it samples names from the active pool. The probability field acts as a selection weight -- it is not an absolute percentage but a relative weight compared to other entries.

For example:

• A name with probability 1.0 is twice as likely to be selected as a name with probability 0.50.
• A name with probability 0.25 is half as likely as the default 0.50.
• Setting all names to the same probability gives them equal selection chances.

Names are sampled without replacement within a single flight (the same name will not appear twice on one manifest), but the same name can appear on different flights.

Gender and Weight Modeling

The gender field serves two purposes:

1. Manifest realism -- produces a natural mix of male and female passengers.
2. Weight modeling -- the Payload Profile system uses gender-appropriate weight distributions when calculating passenger weights. Male and female passengers may have different average weights based on the active payload profile.

The weight override field allows you to set a fixed weight for a specific passenger name, bypassing the statistical weight distribution entirely. This is useful for edge cases or testing. When left empty (null), the passenger's weight is determined by the payload profile's statistical distribution for their gender.

List View

The passenger names list displays the following columns:

Column	Description
Name	Full passenger name
Gender	M or F
Weight	Weight override value, if set
Probability	Selection weight
Active	Status badge

The list is sortable by any column and supports text search to quickly find specific names.

Usage Tips

• Populate the pool with a diverse set of names reflecting the regions your virtual airline operates in. A mix of cultural backgrounds adds realism.
• Use the probability field to make common names appear more frequently and unusual names appear less often, mimicking real-world name distributions.
• The default probability of 0.50 works well for most entries. Reserve higher values (0.7 -- 1.0) for very common names and lower values (0.1 -- 0.3) for rare ones.
• Deactivate names using the active toggle rather than deleting them. This preserves historical manifests that referenced those names.
• The weight override field is primarily useful for testing dispatch weight calculations with known values. For normal operations, leave it empty and let the payload profile handle weight distribution statistically.
• Ensure you have enough active names in the pool to cover the largest aircraft in your fleet. If the pool is smaller than the passenger count on a flight, names may need to be reused.

Import / Export

The Import / Export page allows you to manage passenger names in bulk using CSV files. Access it from the sidebar under Flight Dispatcher > Import / Export, or from the "Import / Export" button on the passenger names list page.

Backoffice path: backoffice/passenger-names/import-export

Download Template

Download a CSV template pre-filled with example rows showing the expected format. Use this as a starting point when preparing your import file.

Export

Export all current passenger names as a CSV file. The export includes all fields: name, gender, weight, probability, and active status.

Import

Upload a CSV file to create passenger names in bulk. The file is validated before any changes are made -- if any row has an error, the entire import is rejected (all-or-nothing).

CSV columns:

Column	Required	Description	Default
name	Yes	Full passenger name	--
gender	Yes	M or F	--
weight	No	Weight in kg (30 -- 200)	null (uses payload profile distribution)
probability	No	Selection weight (0 -- 1)	0.50
active	No	1 (active) or 0 (inactive)	1

Example CSV:

name,gender,weight,probability,active
John Smith,M,,0.50,1
Maria Santos,F,65.5,0.75,1
Yuki Tanaka,F,,0.30,1

The import job runs in the background. Progress is displayed on the page in real time, showing validation and import status with row-by-row progress.